


The Letter

by BasiLeaf



Category: Spies Are Forever - Talkfine/Tin Can Brothers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26328889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BasiLeaf/pseuds/BasiLeaf
Summary: Owen and Curt have been dating for 2 years, and finally took the big step of moving in with each other. However, they used to write love letters (not necessarily love letters, but mostly love letters) to each other, so they continue this by hiding them in their apartment to find. One day, Owen, who thinks he's going to surprise Curt, ends up losing his trust.
Relationships: Owen Carvour/Agent Curt Mega
Kudos: 10





	The Letter

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Curt gets drunk in this, and while he doesn't do anything bad, I just want you to be aware of this before you read it.
> 
> I may or may not edit this to be super angsty at some point, so let me know if you'd be interested in that.

This takes place pre-banana. Owen and Curt had been dating for a little over 2 years and decided to move in together, finally. Before they moved in, however, they had a game of writing each other a love letter each week. They both still thought this was a fun idea, so they still write letters to each other and hide them around their apartment. Both of them like to pin up the letters on cork boards in their offices, Curt especially. One day, however, an idea Owen had pisses Curt off a little too much…

OWEN: Hmm, I wonder… No, I guess not…

CURT: Watcha doin’? 

OWEN: Nothing… Just looking for your letter from this week. I can’t seem to find it, and it’s driving me nuts!

CURT: Oh, um, keep looking, I guess. I think I hid it really well! Just...just out of curiosity, where have you looked so far?

OWEN: Just in the living room, bathroom, and- Wait a minute! You forgot to hide yours, didn’t you?

CURT: Um, maybe?

Curt blushes.

OWEN: Oh, Curt Mega, we’ve talked about this! You know I hate it when you don’t hide your card, but, that just means you’ll have to hide yours twice as good next week, I suppose. Have you found mine yet?

CURT: Yeah, it was pretty easy to find. You just wedged it between our bed and the wall...

Curt’s voice trails off as Owen’s thoughts are heard:

He always forgets, doesn’t he? God, this is the SECOND WEEK IN A ROW! Maybe I can figure out something to get him back on track. He’s probably just doing it on purpose to mess with me and see what I say… OH! That’s a great idea! He’ll never forget to hide his if he sees that! I’ll have to talk to Barb to get the dynamite… But not a lot! Barely any. I don’t want him to get hurt, and I don’t want the whole apartment complex to burn down. Hmm…

He does the math in his head

Yes, that should be enough!

CURT: ...so I’m really sorry! I can go get your card, and to apologise I’ll pay for dinner! We can go anywhere you want, or order takeout, or I’d even cook for you-

OWEN: Curt, no. 

Owen cuts Curt off.

OWEN: Let’s order Chinese, ok? You burn water, and even if you don’t have to boil water, you somehow manage to burn or undercook something. 

Curt laughs this off, but inside he’s upset. Curt’s thoughts can be heard now: 

I know I’m bad at cooking, and Owen has told me this and made fun of it on a number of occasions. But it never cuts as deep as this did. I’ve been so on edge lately, especially because I keep forgetting to hide his letter. And, yeah, Owen gets mad at me for it, and that just makes it worse. Ugh, I’d kill for a drink right now, if Owen didn’t make sure I don't drink. Ever. I do get pretty bad when I do, so I guess it makes sense that he doesn’t let me. But I still shou-

OWEN: Hey, Curt, I have to swing by Barb’s lab this week to learn how to use this new watch that, I don’t really know, sprays acid, or something? I hardly know about it, but Cynthia wants me to test it out to use in the field. You wanna come with?

Now, this wasn’t a complete lie, because Barb did have a new watch to try later, but it was still in the prototype stage, and wouldn’t be ready for awhile. He didn’t know why he asked Curt to tag along, but he did, and he hoped Curt said no.

CURT: Nah, sounds boring. Besides, you guys wouldn’t get anything done with me there. I think Barb has a crush on me, haha!

OWEN: Oh, wow! I don’t know. Alright, I think I’ll just go tomorrow, then. I’ll probably be gone for a few hours, but I don’t know exactly how complex this watch is, so...just expect me home before 6, but after noon?

CURT: (absentmindedly) Alright, that sounds good.

Curt opens the best local Chinese restaurant’s website, and orders his usual, then silently passes the laptop to Owen, who understands and places his own order. Owen then passes the laptop back to Curt to enter his credit card number. A deal is a deal, after all. 

\---

The next day, Owen wakes up on the couch with Curt snuggled up next to him. He notices the half-empty Chinese boxes and very slowly and quietly lifts Curt off his chest and cleans up their living room. He then hears a noise coming from the couch.

CURT: Hmm. Wha- Ah…

Curt quickly realizes he is no longer resting safely on Owen’s chest, and that his food and the boxes in which it came in are gone, too. He sees a shadow emerge above him.

OWEN: Have a good sleep, my love?

CURT: With you, it was 10 times better.

OWEN: I’m glad. I’ve got to leave soon, and I just cleaned up. Don’t worry! I saved all the food in those plastic containers.

Curt leans up to kiss Owen, then falls back onto the couch, deciding to rest for a little longer. Owen grabs his coat and exits the apartment.

CURT: I love you! Drive safe!

OWEN: I love you t-

The door slams shut, and the sound of it locking is louder than the end of Owen’s sentence, so Curt couldn’t hear it. He probably said, “I’ll be back in a jiffy!” or something like that. God, he loved that man.

\---

Owen enters a large building, hardly distinguishable from the other grey, brown, and black buildings in the area. That was what made it so perfect. And as a member of MI6, he really shouldn’t be there. However, Cynthia made an exception for him, as he’s Curt partner, as well as his partner. But what Cynthia doesn’t know can’t hurt her. Besides, they worked well together and had a clean record, plus one of the highest number of successful missions in just that quarter. He showed his badge to the man at the door, who let him in, knowing full well Cynthia would have his neck if he argued letting Owen in. Owen breathed in the familiar scent of the office, and started for Barb’s lab. He’d called her after he was sure Curt was sound asleep, and everything was set. 

Barb sees Owen waiting patiently by the door and starts to speak much faster 

BARB: ...so, Charlie, flick your wrist and see if the laser turns on, then record your findings, if it turns on, how long, and how strong the laser was, yadda, yadda, yadda. You know the drill. 

She runs over to Owen, and Charlie looks quizzically at the watch, not knowing how it works.

BARB: Hey, Carvour. Are you ready to see what I made last night? It took me quite awhile, but I think-

OWEN: Barb, dear. Can you please just explain to me how it works?

BARB: Oh, yeah! Right… So, I already put it inside a card for you. (she flips the piece of paper she was holding over, revealing a Thank You card) All you have to do is fill out the card! And I included a bit of confetti so whoever this is for should really enjoy not just the thank you but the-

OWEN: Barb, it’s not a thank you letter. I mean, I guess it is…? 

BARB: Well, what’s the card for, then?

Owen remembers that Curt told him Barb had a crush on him. He might as well tell her they were dating, or else she’d never be able to work with Curt around. But, if he did tell her, she wouldn’t be able to look at Owen again, and Curt gets distracted easily. Better not put him in charge of the gadgets… He settled on a half-truth, you might say.

OWEN: It’s for...my boyfriend. We write each other love letters, and I wanted a little explosion, y’know? Like a pop! 

Owen motioned an explosion with his hands. 

BARB: Your...boyfriend? I didn’t know you were…

Barb trailed off, not to be insensitive. Owen waved it off.

OWEN: No, no. It’s ok, Barb. I should’ve told you long ago. Anyways, do you think you could scrap the confetti and make the card an “I love you” card or something? And as for the explosion, I don’t want him to get hurt so is there a way you could possibly-

BARB: -make the card self-destruct painlessly? Yes. It’s simple, really. It'll only take me a few hours. 

She looks back at Charlie, who figured out the watch with the help of Irene, and is now marking down his findings. It does not look good.

OWEN: You’ve got a great team behind you, don’t you?

Owen takes a sip of his coffee, which has now gone cold.

BARB: Yeah, I do- You want me to heat that up, or...

OWEN: Nah, I’ll go do it in the cafè. I don’t want to distract you. Thanks again for all your help!

Barb gets to work, yelling over to Irene that she was temporarily in charge of overseeing the laser watch construction. Irene gives her a little salute in return, and Owen laughs as he leaves for the cafè. 

OWEN: Give me a call when it’s ready would you, Barb?

He peeps back in to ask this, knowing Barb can’t hear that well from an injury a while ago involving a lie detector-hearing aid. 

BARB: Aye-aye!

Barb gives him her own little salute, to the distaste of Irene, who says nothing.

\---

A few hours later, Owen’s pager beeps, and he rushes to the lab to get the card. 

BARB: There ya go! One “I love you” self-destructing card! I made a quick prototype to demonstrate. Charlie, if you would?

Charlie opens the card, and after 20 seconds, it bursts into a flame which engulfs the card and reduces it to ashes. However, Charlie’s hands, protected by nothing, are completely fine. Owen applauds.

OWEN: Wow, what a marvelous display! This’ll be perfect for Cu- I mean, Conner!

BARB: Did you almost say Curt? God, you guys spend WAY too much time together! You even replace his name with your own boyfriend’s name! Owen, you’ve got to get your priorities straight. But thank you!

Owen kisses Barb on the cheek and runs out, yelling a thanks to all the scientists as he does. Charlie looks sad, possibly because he wanted Owen to kiss him instead of Barb.

\---

OWEN: Curt, are you here? I’m home! Curt?!

Owen moves through their apartment, checking the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and their offices until he finally finds Curt in the coat closet. 

OWEN: Curt, my goodness? Why are you in the closet? You came out ages ago!

He hopes to get Curt to smile with this joke, but to no avail.

OWEN: Curt, what’s the matter? Do you want to talk to me?

Owen picks Curt up with ease and places him on the couch, now able to see Curt’s massive undereye bags. He then notices what’s in Curt’s hand. A whiskey bottle, nearly empty. He knows for a fact that there was no alcohol in the house, he made sure of that. He knew how awful Curt could get when he drank. Curt must’ve gone to the corner market for some. Owen slowly pries the bottle from Curt’s hand, and gets him a tall glass of water to drink. Slowly, Curt gets more and more tired, and eventually falls asleep in Owen’s arms. 

\---

Curt wakes up the next morning, with Owen’s head laid atop his own. He smiles and laughs slightly, which jolts Owen awake like someone kicked him. 

OWEN: You...you okay, Curt?

CURT: I think so. I will be, anyway. Can we talk?

OWEN: Of course, sweetheart!

Curt quickly notices Owen got rid of the whiskey, probably drained it down the sink and recycled the bottle. It’s for the best.

CURT: I just...I’ve been really on edge, with you telling me I suck at cooking, which I know, and I sometimes forget to hide my card and you get mad, and cutting me off-

OWEN: Oh, Curt! 

Curt looks at him blankly.

OWEN: Oh, I’ve done it again, haven’t I? God, Curt, I’m so sorry! I never meant to make you feel bad! But, you really shouldn’t drink to feel better, my love.

CURT: I know, I know. That doesn't mean it doesn’t mean it won’t help sometimes-

OWEN: Curt…

CURT: Yeah, ok. I promise you, Owen Carvour, that I will do my best to never drink when you’re not around.

OWEN: And I promise you, Curt Mega, that I will try to never interrupt you again.

Curt sighs.

CURT: I love you, Owen.

OWEN: I love you too, Curt. 

\---

The following Saturday, the decided card-hiding day. It was Curt’s turn to wait outside first, and he went into the hall and walked back and forth, back and forth. 

Owen knew just where to hide his card. He didn’t want to put it anywhere possibly wet, like a sink or shower. And not too hot, either. He didn’t know the exact details of the explosives inside, and didn’t want to take any chances. So he walked into the bedroom and placed his letter behind the large clock on the wall, with the tiniest corner poking out to pull from. Owen came out to the hall and it was Curt’s turn to hide his card. 

Last week and the week before (and many others), Curt had been so caught up in his thoughts that he forgot to retrieve his letter from his office and hide it. But this time, he had the perfect place. He went into the kitchen and opened the freezer door. He opened the pizza box of a pizza they were going to eat, but never did. Freezerburnt and forgotten, this was the perfect place. He slid the letter in and placed the box back. Content, he went to let Owen back in.

CURT: Y’know, I’m really proud of my hiding place!

OWEN: Are you now?

Owen was mentally preparing himself for Curt to get back on track, never drinking again, and happy, because of his wake-up call of a card. And he really hoped things would all go as planned. However, after Monday’s chat, he didn’t think it was necessary and contemplated switching it out for the regular card he had originally made for Curt. He’d really wanted to use that one instead.  
“No,” he thought to himself. “Barb worked so hard on it, and it’d be worthless to let her amazing work go to waste, just like that. I’ll at least give it a go…” 

CURT: Hmm, is it in HERE?

He opened a cupboard.

CURT: I guess not. Is it in…

Owen laughed to himself at the sheer joy Curt was having on the search. However, Owen didn’t really want to do any searching right now. He was actually a bit hungry. He remembered that they’d bought a pizza while ago, and even though it was probably freezerburt by now, he’d see if it was any good. And if not, it’s taking up space, so he might as well throw it away.

Curt’s eyes widened as he saw Owen opening the freezer, so casually. Owen never usually looked right away. He must be looking for something to eat! Curt couldn’t stop him, he’d look suspicious. But this had become a challenge of sorts, and he didn’t want to lose again. But, imagine the happiness on Owen’s face when he saw that Curt had finally remembered his card. He decided to let Owen win, and sighed in disbelief that Owen wasn’t even looking and found it. Maybe he ought to try that too next time…

Owen pulls out the pizza box and is confused as to why it’s already open. He mumbles incoherently and pulls out the freezerburnt pizza (he expected as much). But what he didn’t expect was Curt’s letter. He silently opened and scanned it quickly, then after precisely 20 seconds, he flinched, though Curt had no idea why. He then got up from the kneeling position he’d taken and hugged Curt, and wept quietly. 

OWEN: I’m sorry.

Owen sniffs and cries out.

CURT: For what? You won, even though it’s not a competition…

OWEN: No, it’s not that…

Owen then proceeds to explain everything: What he’d really gone to see Barb for, his obsession with trying to keep Curt as happy as humanly possible, and even putting his own life and happiness on the line to do so. 

Curt was not impressed to say the least.

CURT: So, what, you only dated me so I could be a “pet project?”

Owen had no idea what this meant, but dared not interrupt Curt. He’d promised, after all.

CURT: And I know you’re not saying anything because of that promise from a few days ago. But that means nothing! We did that so our relationship could be healthy, and now we have no relationship! Yeah, I’m breaking up with you! And this is my apartment, so GET OUT!

Owen nods his head in shame, and goes to his office to collect his things. He stops at the door to Curt’s bedroom, and enters to grab his clothes and pulls the letter out from the clock and throws it away. He proceeds to his office and sees the original letter. It doesn’t mean anything, but he sees the bulge inside. “It’s worth a shot,” he thinks, not daring to speak aloud. Owen drops all his clothes and toiletries and the duffel bag he’d grabbed on his office chair, and grabbed the envelope. 

He slowly walks to an infuriated Curt, who was waiting by the door. Curt is surprised to see Owen carrying nothing but an envelope, but that’s fine by him. More kindling for him. He’s even more surprised when Owen holds out the envelope to him and utters only this:

OWEN: The original. I hope you like it.

Despite having no context at all, Curt understands immediately. They truly were in sync. This is the letter Owen was going to hide, but decided on the explosive one instead. Jerk. 

Curt notices a small circular bump on the envelope. He opens the envelope on the couch while Owen packs the rest of his things, knowing full well Curt wouldn’t accept it. If he didn’t, Owen would take it back, no questions asked. He loved Curt and hated to hurt him like he had, but he understood completely. He might’ve even done the same if they’re positions were switched.  
Curt pulls out an expertly folded piece of paper, folded in this way so the bump wouldn’t fall out. He knew Owen was an expert at origami. Curt unfolded it and a ring fell into his lap. Shocked, he was speechless. But he read the letter.

My sweet, lovely, Curt,  
I hope by now I haven’t decided on “The Barb Option.” Haha, even that sounds awful just writing it here. Though if I have. I hope you’ll forgive me. You’ve just been in such a sulk lately, I had to do something. I hate seeing you upset. I trust you know this.  
That aside, I love you more than anyone else in the entirety of the world. And I know that you love me too. You tell me every day, when I wake up next to you. You tell me when I make breakfast. You tell me when I tell you I won’t get you any alcohol. You tell me when I bring you lunch. You tell me when I make dinner. You tell me when we cuddle. You tell me right before you fall asleep.  
I could never match the sheer amount of love you’ve given to me, but this is my trying to. Curt, These past two years have been the best two years I’ve ever experienced. And I’d like to collect more and more with you. Curt Mega, will you marry me?

Your lover, Owen.

CURT: W-what the hell this?

Owen showed up at the door, with only his duffel bag and a backpack. About to give his key to Curt, he stopped at his voice.

OWEN: Curt? What- You, you read my letter! I’m so sorry about everything, I was going to give you that one originally, but then you got so sad and mad and I wanted to help and-

CURT: No, don’t apologise. Please, for one second, Carvour, shut up.

OWEN: Oh, okay. Whatever you need.

Owen joins him on the couch. He sits on the edge with his legs pressed together, trying to squeeze his tall frame smaller and smaller.

CURT: Listen, I love you. But what you did, well, there’s no explanation. Well, there is. I know that we have our problems. But that’s why we work! Because we’re unique; we push each other beyond our limits, but we know the boundaries. We know when to not cross the line, metaphorically or literally. And you, well, not only did you cross the line at the wrong time, you erased the line. And that’s what I love and hate about you. And this ring, well, I don’t know. I want to be with you. But we can’t lie anymore. We both know it’s not healthy for us.

OWEN: ...may I say something?

CURT: Um, sure.

Curt was not used to being in charge of someone.

It felt good.

OWEN: Curt, I understand completely. If you don’t want me around, then that’s fine by me. If you want me sleeping in my office, I will. If you want me to disappear forever, so be it. Because I will do whatever it takes to be with you.

CURT: Owen, you… You can stay. You can sleep with me in our bed. You can be with me all day. I love you, Owen Carvour, but I, I don’t think I can marry you. I don’t want to marry, I think, ever. I’m proud to be with you, and I’ll wear the ring, if you want. But honestly? I just want to die alone with you, and that’s the only way I want to go.

Owen slowly unfolded himself throughout this and scooted towards Curt. 

OWEN: I love you, and respect your decision. Curt Mega, will you be my boyfriend, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, as long as we both should live?

CURT: Yeah. I will.

They were happy. And it all began with a letter.


End file.
